Sledding!

Right before Christmas we went up to Mt. Charleston with my brother & his family. First run down the mountain Todd broke the sled on a tree stump. 

 

Then second run Brad took Faye down the mountain on the sled and ran into ANOTHER stump... with his rump! He had a bruise that was HIS WHOLE butt cheek. Amazing. and Purple. Hilarious. 

 

This is the moment where Brad is yelling & crying holding his butt. HAHAHA

 

Faye loved sledding and playing in the snow with her cousins, Rachel & Ashley!

 

 

we have a screamer!

 she cried a lot worse than these seem. it was great!

thanksgiving

there isn't much to blog about thanksgiving 2011. faye had a temp of 103 the whole time and was sick for days. like a sleepy, sad, toasty little pookie. in fact, so was all the extended fam staying at my MIL's house. actually, everyone involved in our family thanksgiving this year was sick. good times. we still managed to do puzzles, play games, eat lots of food and have a great time. this is the only picture i took. it was in the morning when faye was feeling well rested and feeling better and she actually was playing with great grandma karren.

dedication

brad took down the blinds to be able to hang up the lights in our window this year. i call that dedication. guess all those years of working with window coverings comes in handy!

9 Months!

Lil Missy,
Okay, who is letting you grow up? It certainly is NOT your mother! :)

This month we moved, so you got REALLY good at pulling up, standing and walking between boxes and furniture. You are so strong, it amazes me! You crawl faster than ever and have finally stopped crying when we leave the room- you just follow us now- that is nice. :)

This month your Smith cousins came to visit- this was the big turning point. 4 people to follow and mimic for 5 days? I swear you got faster & smarter instantly!

You wave now (always with your whole left arm)
& you TALK.
This month you said your first REAL word: "Hi!"
You wave and say "Hi!" when people walk in the door... and when we are leaving. LOL at the store the lady waved and said "Bye Bye!" and you smiled all big and SO proud and said "HI!" and waved right back! hahaha We go to get your from bed and say "Good morning baby!" and you say "Hi!" I love it.

Daddy likes to walk you around by your arms and your little feet are getting better at moving the right way. You always walk or stand on your tip-toes- it's funny. You are very brave- you stand up against things and let go. SCARY! Also, I keep telling Daddy to stop, but he will practice standing you up in the middle of the room by your self. The other morning you seriously stood there smilling and clapping for like 20 seconds. It felt like an eternity! You must have gotten your balance from your Dad.

This month it was our 2 year anniversary & we took you to dinner with us. You were so happy to be out & smiling at all the people. You are a HAM in public. Flirting with every old man you see! We gave you a roll to knaw on with your 1 tooth and you were SO happy! Going to town! Shortly after you got tooth #2 and then tooth #3 right before thanksgiving! Your little smile and odd teeth are awesome :)

You still eat pretty much anything. Your favorites are plain greek yogurt, cottage cheese, spinach, carrots, squash.. You even ate cabbage but it was a little bitter. You love to eat apples (if we are eating one, you just take a bite like we do!) and pieces of pear. You are basically a HERO at picking up food and feeding yourself. Even slippery peaches and pears you can pick carefully off your tray with one try and get them to your mouth without dropping them. That AMAZES me. I had no idea you had such strong, smart little fingers! You like outmeal & multigrain cereal, but not barley. Even if i put applesauce in it you don't really like it.

The other day Dad got pizza and gave you the crust- you stood there holding it with two hand knawing on it happily. STANDING THERE. We both kept looking at you, then each other, than you, that each other- CRAZY!!

You drink out of your sippy cup really good now. That's nice bc it's easier to clean than a bottle. We also stopped breastfeeding you at this benchmark. Mommy wanted to keep going, but you've basically lost interest and my milk was drying up anyway, so it seemed a good time.


You are in 12 month clothes now officially. You had a really bad cold this month and a fever AND ear infections, so you haven't gotten any fatter, but you still insist on getting longer. It's so silly, some of the clothes you wear are so baggy!! Oh well. but in BIG NEWS: your feet FINALLY GREW! ha! you finally are almost out of size 1, edging on size 2 shoes! Good job baby! lol


You still don't sleep, but that's okay, you are getting better at our new house. We love you so much andthink you are the happiest person we know!

LOVE YOU,
Mom

8 months

Pookie,

Welp, we completely missed this benchmark, baby! On October 27th you turned 8 months! Sorry to be so late about blogging, but Mommy has been SUPER sick with a cold and then we moved and we just missed it!
This was BY FAR the funnest month of all: We are officially MOBILE!!!

You crawl. FAST. Everywhere. Into EVERYTHING. I didn't know people that small could be so sneeky and fast. You were clapping before, but now you are a pro! You pull yourself up on anything you can. You have taken a few tumbles but nothing too dramatic. Crawling crawling all day long! You are learning to wiggle out of diaper changes and get to things you want. Mostly remotes, cell phones, keyboards, keys.. things you aren't supposed to have. You love to play with your books (This makes your mom so happy! I want you to love reading like me!) and you have gotten really tricky at throwing things. Everything ends up across the room or on the floor.

You have 1 tooth. Bottom left. It is awesome. and funny that you only have 1 tooth!

You hate your bed. HATE. You cry and scream going to sleep. Your parents hate it. I blame Daddy for snuggling you to sleep and not making you take naps during the day. We need to change your bad habits! Your crib is not a jail, although you act like it is! We had to take off the bumpers bc you were ruining them by standing on them and pulling on them so much.

The best thing of ALL TIME tho is that now you give KISSES!!!!
I love love love love love LOVE IT. you lean forward with your little mouth open and lips sticking out and kiss us!! I die, i love it so much!

Still in 9 month-12 month clothes and 3 month shoes. How do you stand up with those tiny feet?
You hair is longer & fuller- you have enough on top to put into 2 tiny ponies. SO cute.  You haven't discovered how to pull out your bows yet, we are always surprised you keep your bows on.

You are happy and healthy and love to eat anything in sight. you pick up things like a pro with your fingers and hands- cottage cheese, avacado, pieces of bread, etc. You love plain greek yogurt and carrots, spinach, and squash. Basically you eat everything. It's awesome!

Faye, we love you so much! do you think you could sit still for your pictures next month?? :)

Love, Mom

two years!!!

2 years ago on November 14th, 2009 we officially became a family!

here's to the man that still makes me heart jump, my laughs continuous and my heart ever filling to capacity:

love you, brad!

Goodbye, Costa Mesa!

             Sad to leave our first home as a family, but at the same time, not too sad bc we are excited for the new changes ahead! p.s. i hate the new blogger. someone please teach me why these pictures wont just stay where i put them???

hilarity

ok SO FUNNY:
we try to make life fun, right? if we are going to make bread and homemade meatballs and other dinner items, brad likes to dress the part! today brad looked like this:

and faye started to SCREAM. and CRY. and she wanted to hold onto me and didn't like ANYTHING to do with brad. HAHAHHA i guess she doesn't like his baker's hat!

helping daddy

i love them. look at her little bum! ha.

blue-eyed baby

faye has these beautiful blue/grey eyes. they aren't bluey blue, but have the look of an overcast ocean sky. very fitting for a socal winter baby! i was trying to get a picture of her one tiny tooth, but instead i got her pretty peepers. she is going to be a heartbreaker someday...

 

fun with daddy

they are still bff. makes me so happy. :)

who's under the fort??

there she is!

 

my mom put together this tunnel... 

i ignored it but my daddy thought it looked fun!

playtime!

playtime means basically faye crawls ALL OVER the place, gets into everything and then is either tired or hungry & leaves chaos behind her. so funny. we are always just watching her go from here to there to here to there and say "she is so busy!!" 

i love watching her discover everything. she hits blocks together and makes noise, and bangs books like drums. she also opens drawers, books, sticks her fingers into outlets, pulls on cords, eats remotes, stands up on EVERYTHING and crawls all over. 

 "mom, i'm playing with your tupperware, want some?"

great grandma karren

some family stopped for a visit- these are not great pictures, but the oldest and youngest of brad's family like each other a lot!

happy halloween!!

nothing makes me happier than this little chica. she is so cute & funny!

help moms!

moms/dads out there-
THEN
faye used to go to bed. every night. every nap. she knew her bed was where she slept. she hated to snuggle & just wanted to be left alone to sleep. her evening routine got her snuggled, full, warm, tired & she would sleep through the night.
NOW
she's teething. so would want us to snuggle her a bit more. so we do. we still do evening routine.. but she WILL NOT GO TO BED. she cries like we are torturing her at every nap, every night. TORTURE. i can't just let her "cry it out" bc the longer the minutes, the more hideous the cry. she will cry for an hour, getting more & more upset. then by the time she has fussed & fussed her diaper is full& needs to be changed, we have to de-snot her nose & then it's just a mess.

is it just teething, or just that at 7 months she decided she hates to go to bed?
advice?

Mickey!

Last time we met Minnie, this time it was "Hip Hop" Mickey. 

Not sure about the hip hop thing, but she liked Mickey, kinda. 

Also, I love our family.... :) Remember?

I am 7 months old!

Dear Little Pookie,

I can't believe you are 7 months old!!
How did you grow so fast?? 9 month clothes, 3-6 month shoes. Your feet still can't catch up!
This month you really got on the move. You started to ARMY crawl all over. Nothing is safe!!
You have started to be clingy this month & notice when we are gone- it's kinda hilarious. if we walk into the kitchen & you can't see us for half a second you start to wail like "YOU'VE LEFT ME FOREVER YOU ARE NEVER COMING BACK WAAAAA!" and then we come back into view & you breath all heavy & half cry acting like we left you there ALONE for an eternity. So funny. Sometimes your daddy goes behind the wall like 6 times in a row just to hear you start to cry off & on. HAHA he's mean, but funny. :)

Let's see what else??
You LOVE the bath. LOVE love love love.
You eat everything but straight green beans-ICK- you eat them if they are mixed with cereal. Your parents think they are tricky.
You can pick up little puff things with your fingers & can mostly get them in your mouth the first try. Anything we put on your tray you get into your mouth.
You have a weird affinity for my hounds-tooth bag. You LOVE it. You EAT it. You grab it every chance you get. Aunt Melissa will be glad to know you think she has very good taste in purses.
You sit up by yourself. Like from laying down you get up. This is scary. The first day it happened the crib went ALL the way DOWN.
You have found the shelf where all your books are kept and insist on pulling them out every day onto the floor and don't even clean up, how rude! :)

You have quite the vocabulary these days- BABABA was the original, then DADADADA, every once & a while I get a MOMOM, and I swear sometimes it's like "WAWA or LALA." You talk talk talk. You talk to yourself in the mirror. You talk to us. You talk to our neighbors. And other babies. And when we are in a parking garage or someplace where it echos you shout one short "BA!!" just hear it. So funny. We will go for a walk & you talk in the stroller looking at the world going by. The funniest of all is when we get into the car. We could have gone a whole trip to church or the grocery store & you were tired & silent... but as soon as we get into the car & me & daddy start to talk you IMMEDIATELY chime in. THE WHOLE DRIVE. Apparently you want us to know you are there. And feel the need to tell us everything. Needless to say... you talk a lot. Do you think it will ever stop???????

Anyway, "my little love" you are SO WONDERFUL to have around. We love you. You are so BEAUTIFUL and HAPPY and OURS(the best part of all)!!

Happy 7 months, Faye Barttels.

Love, Mommy

p.s. Im sorry your 7 month pictures did not turn out super cute. I will take some better ones soon!

on the move....sorta!

this is all day everyday around our house. it isn't quite crawling... but she sure gets around!!

excitement galore!

let me preface by saying im sorry you are probably going to be disappointed by the "big news." but in my defense, it is HUGE news to us & probably... only to us. ha!

we are moving.
YES, MOVING!!

our entire married 2 years we have lived in Costa Mesa. it was our first home together. my mom helped me make curtains & we(i) have spent many trips to tj maxx to make this place our home sweet home. we had our first baby here and learned to love the young men & women of our ward & stake. we have awesome wonderful neighbors with little children we have watch grow from babies to talking walking little people. they have seen us as newlyweds, huge & pregnant & now confident parents. losing the youth & our neighbors are really our biggest devastation. rather, our only devastation.

but... it's time to leave.

we will miss the youth we have served & worked with & loved & the few friends we have made. we will miss the ease with which we could get to three freeways. we will miss the santa ana super cheap grocery stores being so close.

the only thing we will NOT miss is the place we missed these whole 2 years...
HUNTINGTON BEACH!!!

back we go- to where we fell in love, where the beach is close & where we feel is REALLY our home.

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!! :)

big change ahead

im so excited!
more info officially TOMORROW! :)

Faye loves FOOTBALL

faye's first football season is upon us & what a momentous occasion it is!! im glad i really enjoy football, that way i don't feel like i lose my husband 4 months of the year. ha. she snuggles with daddy while he watches games & has even attended TWO live football games already!

the first was to see uncle trevor play with his high school team. which was a MAD HOUSE, by the way, it was like going to a junior college it was so expensive & PACKED! neither of my high schools ever had 1/4 of that many people. ever. he didn't play a ton but it was fun to go & see him!

the second was a trip to las vegas to see uncle chad start at middle linebacker for SUU s. UNLV. it was great! family & friends came & they KILLED UNLV which was super fun to watch & faye totally had a blast! she LOVES to watch everything & was so happy the whole time while we cheered :)

 making the tackle! proof!

 not so sure about this guy....